The present invention relates to a new and distinctive American cranberry variety, ‘CNJ95-20-20’, having a desirable combination of traits for fresh market cranberries, including intense uniformly red to dark red fruit color in early season, extremely high anthocyanin (red pigment) content, a round to ovate berry, and exceptional fresh fruit quality relative to currently cultivated commercial varieties. The variety ‘CNJ95-20-20’ resulted from crossing the variety ‘Stevens’ (unpatented) as the seed parent, with the advanced selection ‘NJS98-37’ (unpatented) as the pollen parent (‘NJS98-37’ is derived from a ‘Franklin’×‘Ben Lear’ cross, both unpatented). ‘CNJ95-20-20’ was originally selected from 26 progeny of this cross, growing in a breeding trial of 3400 progeny in Chatsworth, N.J.
The American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait) is a temperate, woody perennial plant species native to North America. The United States is the largest producer, with Wisconsin and Massachusetts representing the majority of cranberry acreage and production, followed by New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. Currently cultivated cranberry varieties include selections from native populations, and first and second generation hybrids. Significant acreage remains devoted to varieties that were selected from native cranberry populations from as far back as 1850, and include the cultivars ‘Ben Lear’ (unpatented), ‘Early Black’ (unpatented), ‘Howes’ (unpatented), ‘Lemunyon’ (unpatented), ‘McFarlin’ (unpatented) and ‘Searles’ (unpatented). First generation hybrid varieties were developed from one cycle of breeding and selection that was conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with state Agricultural Experiment Stations in the 1940's. This breeding program released a series of unpatented varieties in the 1950's including the most widely grown cultivar ‘Stevens’, which was selected from test plots in Pemberton, N.J. Recent introductions of second breeding cycle hybrids are now being planted and grown commercially.
The bulk of cranberry production is for the processed market, where varieties having high anthocyanin content, along with consistently high productivity, have become essential for commercial success. Another important cranberry market, however, is fresh fruit, where berry quality, including appearance and storage life are essential traits. A variety's crop productivity is a function of heritable traits such as stolon vigor, upright density, inflorescence bud production, fruit set and fruit size. Cultivars with high stolon vigor will establish more rapidly and reduce the number of years required to achieve maximal production. However, after bed establishment, the cultivar must transition to optimal sexual reproduction mode, and optimal upright density, to achieve high crop production. Cranberry inflorescence bud primordial, for the subsequent year's crop, are set on upright shoots during the fruit development and ripening period of the current season, and must overwinter in a dormant state, before resuming growth and flowering the following spring. Thus, the crop load of a given year, may impact the subsequent year's crop, contributing to the pronounced biennial bearing habit common to many cultivars. Productivity is also subject to environmental effects, e.g., heat and light intensity stresses, cold (frost) stress, water stress (drought and excess), disease, insects, certain pesticides, etc.
The characteristic color of cranberry arises from the synthesis of anthocyanins in the fruit epidermis during fruit ripening. Anthocyanin content is measured as TAcy (total anthocyanin), and is a fruit quality component of cranberry, having a minimum acceptable value. TAcy is measured as milligrams of anthocyanin per 100 g fruit using a standard extraction and spectrophotometric (520 nm) method. Earlier ripening varieties, which typically have higher TAcy values, and allows for an earlier season harvest of a crop. Since anthocyanins are largely located in the fruit epidermis, larger fruit generally having lower TAcy values per unit weight of fruit. The Rutgers University cranberry breeding program quantitatively measured TAcy along with mean fruit size, and selected progeny with large fruit size and high TAcy levels.
New Jersey uniquely offers an ideal environment for cranberry breeding because of the climate, soils and water. Of all the cranberry production areas in North America, New Jersey conditions subject the cranberry to the highest disease pressure and heat stress. The plant and developing fruit must tolerate high heat stress, and fruit and vegetative diseases during the growing season. Over 15 pathogens are known to incite cranberry fruit rot in New Jersey, and the fruit is also subject to heat scald and physiological breakdown. Thus, selection under New Jersey conditions offers the opportunity to identify varieties with higher resistance to disease, scald, and heat stress.
The Rutgers University cranberry breeding program, in Chatsworth, N.J., was initiated in 1985 to take advantage of this unique selection pressure. The program's methods were designed to duplicate, as practically as possible, the environment of a commercial bed. Thus, breeding plots of 1.5×1.5 m were established with multiple plants (typically one plant square ft.) and allowed to colonize area to form a dense canopy. Two to four years after planting, yield of a given plot was evaluated over a four year minimum to provide for biennial bearing assessment. Parental selection was based on field phenotypic performance, and parental cross combinations were based on the objectives of enhancing traits and/or combining the most desirable traits from both parents into one genotype, i.e., variety. Traits being evaluated in Rutgers University's cranberry breeding program include yield, ripening season, fruit rot susceptibility/resistance, storage life, scald, stolon and upright vigor, total anthocyanin content (TAcy), soluble solids (Brix), titratable acidity, and berry appearence.
The variety, ‘CNJ95-20-20’, described herein, resulted from a 1995 cross between the variety ‘Stevens’ as the seed parent, with ‘NJS98-37’ as the pollen parent. ‘NJS98-37’ is an advanced selection from a ‘Franklin×Ben Lear’ cross. ‘CNJ95-20-20’ was originally selected from 26 progeny growing in test plots in Chatsworth, N.J. for its early, uniform dark fruit color. In 2003, ‘CNJ95-20-20’ was planted in a replicated variety trial (3×3 m plots) in Chatsworth, N.J. for additional evaluation. ‘CNJ95-20-20’ was also planted in 2005 in a commercial bed (0.21 hectare) in Browns Mills, N.J. for evaluation of dry and wet harvest production. ‘CNJ95-20-20’ consistently produced superior quality, early-season fruit for the fresh fruit market. When dry-harvested, ‘CNJ95-20-20’ fruit maintains well in cold storage. ‘CNJ95-20-20’ is a new cranberry variety selected under New Jersey's stressful conditions, which offers the potential for high quality fruit for the fresh fruit market.